prototaxic
/ˌprəʊtə(ʊ)ˈtaksɪk/Psychology
adjective
Designating a hypothetical first stage of experiencing or receiving impressions; specifically designating the most basic or primal mode of experience (normally in the first year of life) in which awareness of self, time, and space is lacking.
- Chiefly associated with the American psychiatrist H. S. Sullivan (1892–1949)..
Origin
1940s. From proto- + -taxis + -ic. Compare earlier parataxic and also syntaxic.